


i'll take it, it'll do

by CallicoKitten



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Angst and Humor, Child Abuse, Erica is awesome, Everyone Has Issues, F/M, First Time, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, References to Shakespeare, Underage Sex, i need to stop writing fics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 15:48:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/993716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallicoKitten/pseuds/CallicoKitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So the girl of Scott's dreams won't date him unless her brother has a date too, that might be insane but Stiles is totally willing to help out with that because hey, he's a great friend, okay? Now if only that were the only problem in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stiles

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as a weird taming of the shrew/10 things i hate about you au that i wrote whilst on holiday in august and i don't quite know what happened. i've fucked with ages a lot and messed around with relationship (yeah, chris and allison are siblings and idk don't hit me i just wanted teen!petopher alongside sterek is that too much to ask?) everyone is messed up and of course there's a side order of mystery because that's all i can write apparently? 
> 
> title is from 'game shows touch our lives' by mountain goats
> 
> \+ peter is not a great guy so be warned

i. _i was a quick-wit boy, diving too deep for coins_

 

Allison Argent walks into their lives on a Wednesday during Ms Blake’s third period English class. She smiles shyly, mutters a little about herself and Stiles can tell with one look that she’s the kind of kid that’s been shunted about all her life. There’s no anger in her voice when she details her last few moves, only a calm, quiet, resignation.

That’s not why he knows she’ll be trouble though because she’s the kind of girl who wouldn’t give Stiles a _first_ look, let alone a second, it’s because Stiles can practically _feel_ Scott swooning beside him. Ms Blake seats Allison between Jackson Whittemore and Lydia Martin, because Ms Blake is secretly evil, and seals Allison’s fate as a member of high school royalty.

Class starts up and Allison rifles through her bag getting increasingly anxious until Scott nudges her, waving a biro. Allison accepts it and smiles so wide, Stiles honestly thinks she might kiss him or something. She doesn’t (thankfully) then Lydia nudges her and murmurs something and Ms Blake clears her throat, “Girls.” She says sternly and everyone quiets.

Stiles catches Erica’s eye and smirks.

-

Scott spends all lunchtime staring at her and sighing woefully. “She’s _so_ beautiful.” He says, for like the fortieth time. And Stiles has to agree that yeah, Allison is really, _really_ pretty, all tall and pale skin and bouncy dark curls but _seriously?_

Boyd is watching Scott with a wry smile on his face, “She’s _so_ out of your league.”

And Stiles has to agree with that too. If the school were a watering hole or field or wherever it is that different types of animals congregate (and Stiles still isn’t entirely convinced it’s _not_ ) they’d be the bottom rung. Lower than the nerds who at least have some value to apex predators, lower than the kid who throws up like every week, lower even than the _teacher’s pets_. That’s not to say people don’t know who they are though, Erica will always be the Girl with Epilepsy just like Stiles is always the Sheriff's Boy and Boyd is (or was) the Guy who Sits Alone at Lunch and Works at the Ice-rink. Scott and Isaac probably blur into one for most people. They’re the losers of the school, they’re not particularly bright or talented, they don’t have any great path in life, they’re just faces in the crowds and in the back of team photos and Stiles is pretty okay with that. Life’s easy when you’re no one, once you get past the crippling loneliness and feelings of inferiority of course. But hey, at least they’ve got each other.

“Awh, come on Boyd,” Erica observes, chewing on a curly fry. “I think they’d be cute together.”

“ _You_ think everyone would be cute together,” Stiles adds. Erica’s having a good month, started a new series of meds a while back and hasn’t had a seizure since.

“I just want people to be happy,” she says with a small smile.

Isaac is staring at Scott (or maybe he’s staring at Allison too, Stiles isn’t entirely sure,) “I don’t see why they can’t be together. I mean Allison is the new kid, right? If she’d been sat next to us I bet she’d be over here right now.”

Stiles snorts, “Yeah, okay Isaac.” And Isaac looks confused for a few minutes but Stiles is saved from explaining his increasingly pessimistic world views with him by Erica saying loudly, “So anyway, I heard queen bitch talking to Allison in maths, there’s a party Friday night at Whittemore’s place. We should _totally_ gatecrash it.”

“No,” Boyd says just as Stiles laughs a little hysterically. _Seriously_?

“Awh, come on, guys. I’ve _never_ been to a real party!”

“There’s a reason for that,” Boyd reminds her gently, hand on her shoulder. _You’re taking things too fast,_ Stiles reads in his expression.

Erica shrugs him off, “Please guys?”

“Erica, the last time you went to a party it was at Scott’s place and you cried and then threw up in the bouncy castle,” Stiles points out. All in all it had been a great party.

“My mom had to pay extra,” Scott says mournfully.

“I was _ten_ ,” Erica protests. “Besides, this time I won’t have just eaten my body weight in bubblegum ice cream.”

“ _I_ will have,” Stiles interjects. “Bubblegum ice cream is the _best_.”

Erica rolls her eyes and Isaac stares, “Ew.”

“Allison is going,” Erica adds, with a devious smile. “We can talk to her, see if she’s good enough for our little Scott.”

Scott perks up at that, “We’re going.” He says decisively and Erica whoops.

Stiles sighs, “Fine, fine. But if anyone pukes in my jeep I’m using their face to mop it up, deal?”

Scott, Isaac and Erica nod, “Deal!” and Boyd shakes his head muttering, “I need to find new friends.”

Stiles agrees wholeheartedly.

-

Stiles gets home to find Derek Hale lurking in his bedroom. He realises that most people would probably freak out upon coming home to a locked house and finding a guy who spends half his life _pretending you don’t exist_ sitting moodily on their bed but Stiles has known Derek for like, _ever_ and this really isn’t anything new.

Derek doesn’t speak to him at school and Stiles gets it. Derek’s the captain of half the sports teams and hangs around with cheerleaders and star athletes and is the top of most girl’s crush lists and Stiles is kind of just _not_. He doesn’t really mind it though, Derek’s friends are assholes and the cheerleaders quite frankly terrify him. They only know each other at all because their moms were best friends so Stiles spent a lot of his childhood running around barefoot with the Hale kids in the woods.

He drops his lacrosse stick by the door with a clatter, “Hey, man.” Derek grunts in reply and Stiles frowns as he slides his rucksack off, “Bad day?”

Derek shoots him a look that snarls _what do you think moron?_ And Stiles does a decent job of pretending to look offended, “Touchy.” He mutters, tugging his school books out of the rucksack. Derek is quiet for a few minutes while Stiles pretends to do English homework on his laptop but then he sighs and says, “The Argents are back in town.” which kind of stumps Stiles.

He knows Derek is talking about Allison and her family because he’s pretty sure she said her last name was Argent but he has _no_ idea why that affects Derek in anyway. He does a quick mental search through all the people Derek hates (and there are _a lot_ ) with Argent as the key word and comes up empty. It must be Kate, he decides. The substitute teacher that completely fucked Derek up last year. Derek never had told him her last name.

Stiles turns in his chair to face him, finds that he’s sprawled across Stiles’ bed, hands balled in the sheets. “Fucking _Argent’s_ ,” he breathes. He’s still in his basketball kit and Stiles tries very hard not to stare at his absurdly short white shorts.

“Did you see her?” he asks, because he’s not entirely sure how this scene is meant to play. “Kate, I mean.”

Derek shakes his head, “There’s a boy in Peter’s year, a girl in yours.” Then he sits up, “Stay away from them.”

Stiles snorts, “Seriously? Sorry, D but you don’t get to make that call.”

Derek sits up and his eyebrows knit together in a frown, “Stiles, they’re dangerous.”

Stiles gets it, he does. He wouldn’t be too keen on his friends hanging out with anyone who’d done half the stuff Kate did to Derek but the thing is, Allison wasn’t even _in town_ when it happened. Derek knows that. This can’t be what he’s so upset about. “They’re just kids, Derek.” Stiles says, crossing the room to sit beside him. “What’s this _really_ about?”

And Derek sighs. Closer now, Stiles can see how tense Derek is, pulled taught and ready to break something. “They’re closing Laura’s case.” He says softly, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “They’re writing it off as a suicide.”

Oh, right. _That._

Laura Hale went missing about six months back, vanished in the woods behind their house. She’d only been home for a week from college. They were all supposed to drive down to L.A. the next week. A couple of kids found her two months ago at the bottom of a steep drop, broken and mangled and rotten. She had died _alone_ and Stiles will never get over that. The flesh had been too decayed for any cause of death to be established, there weren’t any marks on the bones at any rate. _A suicide_ , they’d said. Or an accident, she’d lost her way in the dark, took a tumble.

They didn’t know Laura like Stiles did. No way would she have killed herself – she had it all going for her after all and no way could she have fallen, she knew the woods better than anyone.

It’s all so fucking surreal.

Stiles lies down beside Derek so their shoulders brush, “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “They can’t do that to you.”

“They already _have_ ,” Derek growls.

“I’ll talk to my dad when he gets home – ” Stiles begins and Derek shifts slightly so their knees bump together (Stiles’ heart speeds up a fraction), “Your dad’s at mine right now telling my mom. He’ll probably be late.”

 

Stiles has no idea what he’s meant to say to that. Now, don’t get him wrong, he’s all about comfort, he’s had practise after all, but with Derek it’s _different._ This is mostly down to the fact that Derek is really, _really_ bad with emotion and most of time he’s happier pretending he doesn’t have any (which is usually fine because it means they don’t have to actually _talk_ talk) but right now it’s kind of not fine. (There’s also the other thing, the one where Derek’s smile makes his stomach flip and the one where his heart speeds up whenever the older boy so much as _looks_ at him but that’s something Stiles is steadfastly ignoring because he’s, you know, emotionally mature and stuff.)

 

“I’m sorry,” he says again, moves his hand so that it lies beside Derek’s (in an alternate universe where Stiles actually has an ounce of courage he’d take it but, alas, Stiles has _no_ courage so he doesn’t.) “I’ll talk to him anyway.”

 

Derek hmphs and turns his head to face the other wall. Stiles has known Derek long enough to know that that signals the end of the conversation so instead he rolls onto his front and says, “So that Argent girl that started today, Scott’s like, in love with her. It’s awful.”

 

Derek listens patiently while Stiles natters about his day and when Stiles has run out of things to say he sits up and touches Stiles’ shoulder gently, “Thanks.” He mutters and Stiles thinks he might explode. Derek _never_ says thanks. _Never._

 

And with that he clambers out of the window and drops to floor in crouch because Derek is apparently under the impression that he’s some kind of superhero/vigilante thing.

 

Whatever.

 

-

 

Scott drops into the seat opposite Stiles at Friday lunchtime and sighs until Stiles cracks and says, “Oh my God, what?” interrupting Isaac’s account of chasing off a grave robber last night. 

“Allison won’t date me,” Scott whines, huffing dramatically. Erica rubs his shoulder supportively, “How come?” she asks gently just as Isaac leans across intently and says, “You spoke to her?”

It transpires that Scott and Allison spent a not-so-romantic evening together after she nearly killed a dog with her car (“Well, it’ll be an interesting ‘how-we-met’ story,” Isaac chirps) and Scott impressed her with his manly veterinary skills. Or something. (Stiles got sort of distracted when Derek stalked by.) Apparently it all went well until Scott asked if she wanted to go to the party together. You know, together. 

“She said _no_ ,” he moans.

“ _What?_ Why?” Erica cries.

“Her dad sounds like a nut job,” Scott mutters. “She says she’s not really allowed to date.”

Stiles pats Scott’s back absently, “Awh, that sucks.” (He knows he’s not being the greatest BFF in the word right now but Derek is wearing a really tight top today. Like _really_ tight and, contrary to popular belief, Stiles is only human.) Scott nods and Erica aims a kick at Stiles’ shins with a pointed _Stiles, really?_ look.

“Well at least you had one romantic evening together.” he says, as enthusiastically as he can manage, “Did you wow her with your manly, _manly_ medical prowess?” 

“We spoke a lot, she’s really awesome.”

Isaac tuts, “So whats the deal with her dad?” 

“He won’t let her date until her brother does, which is completely insane.”

Stiles snorts, “Do people really do things like that in real life?” just as Boyd says, “She has a brother?”

“Yep. He’s a senior,” Erica supplies happily. “Blonde, tall, has that whole angry at the world thing going on.”

“Because Beacon Hills High needs another one of those,” Boyd mutters.

Scott recounts the details of his conversation with Allison and Stiles watches Isaac (who is gazing intently at Scott) to try and figure out if he’s jealous of Scott or if he’s jealous of Allison or maybe if he’s not sure _himself_. It’s kind of shitty; this is the first real crush Scott’s had in like ever and from what Stiles can see (which is Allison resolutely pretending not to stare at Scott even as Lydia seems to be critiquing her outfit) it’s not exactly unrequited. He straightens up a little and frowns across at Allison, Stiles was pretty sure the whole _can’t-date-until-her-brother-does_ thing was bullshit but her longing looks look pretty genuine.

Of course it’s Erica that actually makes the suggestion.

“So all we really need to do is find someone to date her brother, it’ll be like that film!” 

Scott starts, “Wait, what? You guys would do that for me?”

And he looks so damned happy that Stiles chuckles, “Of course we will, buddy.” Because just because Stiles’ love life is exclusively limited to rushed late night porn session with Mr Handy (and stolen glances at a certain alpha male type) doesn’t mean everyone elses should be woefully hopeless. “I mean how hard can it be? Her brother can’t _that_ bad.”

Erica smirks. “I’ll point him out to you later. He’s trying out for the track team after school.”

 

-

 

It turns out Chris Argent is lithe blond kid with bruised knuckles and a permanent scowl. “ _At least he’s good looking,_ ” Erica hisses. Stiles sighs and tries not to stare too long at Derek, who is (of course) head of the track team, running up and down in his tiny white shorts, (and, of course, completely ignores him.)

“Dude, he looks like he’s about ready to someone’s head off!” Stiles hisses back. See, Stiles is very, very used to people playing the intimidation card (he spends a good percentage of his time with _Derek Hale_ for Christ sakes) but Chris Argent is something else.

Erica shrugs, “Some girls find that very attractive.” Then she brushes her hair back, “Not that we need to worry about _girls_ ,” with a wink towards Stiles.

Stiles quirks an eyebrow, “You sure?”

“Seriously? Who do you think you’re talking to Stiles?”

And really, Stiles should know better than to question Erica’s scarily accurate gaydar or whatever the more politically correct term for that is. This doesn’t bode well for them. “So basically we’re screwed?” 

Erica smirks. _Again._ “I’m sure you’ll find _someone_.” Then she stands, “I gotta go and _you_ have a detention to get to.”

Stiles groans. “Shit, I forgot.” 

Erica laughs and rubs his arm, “Have fun, batman.” 

-

Stiles takes as long as he can getting to Harris’ classroom mostly because he really, _really_ enjoys pissing Harris off but also because it’s started raining _a lot_ and his jeeps tyres are so shitty he’s not comfortable driving on wet roads anymore. Harris doesn’t look up when Stiles throws the door open, too absorbed in his marking or whatever.

The room’s not empty either; Peter Hale is sat on one of the back tables. Judging by the pile of textbooks and the rolls of sticky-back plastic he’s meant to be re-covering them but instead he’s industriously covering the desk with it. Peter is Derek’s uncle but he’s only like a few months older than him and Stiles is pretty sure he’s the most toxic person in Beacon Hills (and everyone sort of unofficially suspects he was at least a little bit involved with Laura’s disappearance.) One of the twins that hang around with Jackson and Lydia is watching him, open mouthed.

“Mr Stilinski,” Harris says, without looking up. “I’m going to tell what I _didn’t_ tell Mr Hale. That plastic is not inexpensive and the school has a limited supply of it, therefore anything you waste will be paid for by _you_ or your family.” – at this Peter looks up briefly but shrugs and carries on mummifying the desk – “There is a pile of textbooks on that desk, when you’ve finished covering them you may leave.”

Things go well (and by well he means he covers one book in the time it should take to cover three) until Peter makes this odd noise of frustration from under the desk and Stiles glances down to see that he’s run out of plastic for the last two legs. By this point Mr Harris has abandoned his marking and is watching Peter with the same fascination Stiles imagines he’d use to watch a nature documentary.

Stiles weighs up his hatred of Harris and Peter and Harris comes out on top (just barely) so he hands Peter the rest of his roll.

Mr Harris sighs, “Aiden, go to the supply closet and get two more rolls of plastic. Bring them up here and then you may leave.” When Aiden (Stiles thinks he’s the one sniffing around Lydia) gets back Harris stands and crosses the room to put the rolls down on Stiles’ desk because apparently he’s a masochist or he maybe he’s so deluded he thinks they might actually behave. “Now, I’m going to speak very clearly so you two can understand: if I don’t come in tomorrow and find all of these text books neatly covered on my desk both of you will dearly regret it.”

He sweeps out of the room and Peter meets Stiles’ gaze and they both shake their heads and wrap the rest of the tables (because Peter might be toxic but pissing off Harris is _always_ a good way to spend time.)

-

Jackson Whittemore’s fucking _mansion_ party begins with Stiles having to watch Erica and Isaac (who aren’t even remotely drunk) grind against each other while Boyd looks on with a sort of fond exasperation. Scott has disappeared with the girl he’s not supposed to be dating (who is actually really, _really_ nice and has only been allowed to come because her brother is there too – scowling at everyone from a shadowy corner of the Whittemore’s garden) and Stiles isn’t allowed to drink because he’s the designated driver. This, sadly, means no getting shitfaced and waking up at Scott’s in a tutu (which has happened more than once oddly) so Stiles is sort of just lingering because since he’s not technically _supposed_ to be here everyone who isn’t a loser is happy pretending he’s _not_ here.

The music is loud and repetitive and there are people kissing _everywhere_ and Derek leaves early (and spends the entire party moping and shooting glares at Stiles.) 

Peter, unfortunately, is. Stiles catches sight of him watching two cheerleaders (who apparently don’t know that Peter’s pretty gay) literally wrestle each other for the right to dance with him. Stiles sidles up to him because he’s just that desperate for socialisation. “Weren’t you, like, unofficially banned from parties after that time you spiked the punch with mdma?”

Peter chuckles, “That was _great_ party. And anyway, Lydia Martin did that.”

“After you tricked her into it! Half the school got arrested.”

Peter shrugs, “Yeah, but _I_ didn’t. Plus a couple of the videos I took got like a million views on YouTube.”

Stiles knows. He sort of watched them (but just to make sure he wasn’t in them, okay?) “You’re disgusting,” he tells Peter as one of the girls starts tearing at the other’s hair.

Peter smirks, “And yet, pretty much the entire school is secretly in love with me.”

“That’s only because they don’t know what a psycho you actually _are_ ,” Stiles mutters. Unfortunately, Stiles does. Last year Ms Morrell ran a mandatory group therapy session for a few of the students, he and Peter were shoved in there, Isaac too, and a couple of other students Stiles didn’t really know Stiles had begun mentally referring to it as Dead Parents Society after a few sessions and the name had sort of stuck. This coupled with the fact that Derek spends a _lot_ of time moaning about Peter’s fucked up antics, have given Stiles more information on Peter than he’s strictly comfortable with.

Peter shrugs.

The girls by now are rolling around on the floor, screaming unintelligibly, “Dude, please just tell them you’re not interested.” Stiles mutters as one of them almost _bites_ the other.

“Why? This is fun.”

Stiles shakes his head and steps forward, tugging the smaller of the girls away from the other and Peter rolls his eyes and walks away. The girl pulls away from him and then yells, “GREAT! Now look what you did! You scared him off!”

The other girls scoffs, “Oh! Like it was my fault?” They start to bicker and Stiles sighs, wandering off in search of somewhere a little less chaotic. He’s skulking about in what is possibly the largest walk-in food cupboard thingy (pantry? he thinks this counts as a pantry...whatever that is) when he spots Lydia Martin, leaning eyes closed against the wall, taking deep, shuddering breaths.

Stiles has always kind of liked Lydia. There was this moment when they were kids (when his mom had just died and Lydia was the only other kid in class that seemed to know what leukemia was or meant) that Stiles thought they might be friends but alas, popularity and class systems and yadda yadda yadda.

He takes a few minutes to decide the best course of action before clearing his throat, “Uh, Lydia?”

Her eyes fly open and she jerks, glaring accusingly at him, “What the hell are _you_ doing here, Stilinski?” 

Stiles raises his hands, spreads them wide, “Hey, I was just seeing if you were okay. That’s all.”

Lydia’s eyes narrow. “I’m _fine_ ,” she spits before flouncing off. 

-

He gets home (woefully sober) at two am (because apparently Scott and Isaac thought shots were a good idea) he opens the door as quietly as possible and heads straight to his room - falls onto the bed and sleeps fully clothed. 

Why is everyone in Beacon Hills so damned weird?

-

He goes to Scott's the next day to play video games and laugh at his hangover. "So, Allison's coming over later," Scott announces, midway through their fourth _Mario Kart_ tournament. "I thought we could talk more about the plan?" He makes a pleading face and Stiles shakes his head. "I _knew_ this was a bad idea." 

Scott grins. 

As it turns out Allison is like, really, _really_ nice (and Stiles does _try_ to keep what Derek said in his mind, if only out of some misplaced loyalty to the other boy's family.) She's clever and witty and has the kind of smile that makes Stiles think very long and hard about whether or not Derek is worth his unrequited lust - not that it matters since Stiles can practically _feel_ the attraction between them. 

"So, you guys are really planning to find someone for my brother to date?" She says, after a round of _Super Smash Brothers_ (which she won easily.) Scott nods bashfully because he's too busy watching the way she's brushing her hair back to notice that she really doesn't sound like she thinks it'll happen.

"Hey, if that's what it takes to make my BFF happy then yeah, of course we will," Stiles nods, watches Allison smile a little sympathetically. 

"I know it sounds insane," she says, looking away. "But my dad's just crazily overprotective, I'm only allowed to date at all because of my big sister. It started out with little things, I could go to the movies if Chris came too and that went okay, we both went with friends and met up after. Then we got older and it got weirder." 

"Did it like, _ever_ work?" Scott asks, frowning.

"It worked back in San Diego for a bit but that was only because Chris pretended to date his best friend, Victoria." She sighs, and bites her lip a little, "The time after that we snuck around and my dad found out from a friend's parents. It wasn't pretty. But that’s beside the point, Chris doesn’t really… He doesn’t really _want_ to be with people anymore. You’ll have a hard time finding anyone he’ll go for. Plus he’s kind of really aggressive…” she trails off. “He can be a hard person to be around,” she sighs.

“You underestimate me,” Stiles grins. 

-

Stiles spends his Sunday morning listing potential dates for Chris Argent and rendezvousing with Erica on Skype about the whole thing. “I gotta go S-man,” she says eventually, “Boyd and I are heading to the movies. Wanna come with? We’re gonna see that new horror flick!”

Stiles does want to come. A lot. But Derek hasn’t spoken to him since Laura’s case was closed and this is a whole new aspect of their relationship because Derek’s always been the one who came to Stiles but it looks like that needs to change. “Sorry, I can’t. Got things to do.”

“Awh, okay. Talk to you later, Stiles.”

She signs off and Stiles scrambles off his bed and clatters down the stairs.

The drive up to Derek’s is quiet and Stiles tries to ignore the gnawing anxiety in his gut as he turns onto the dirt road leading up to their house. When he’s not with Derek it’s easy to pretend Laura isn’t dead. It’s easy to pretend his biggest problem right now is Scott’s love life. Now all he can think about is how Laura used to read to him when she babysat and how she always smelt faintly of pink wafer biscuits and how she used to listen to Miley Cyrus secretly in her room. 

Cora answers the door and smiles when she sees it’s him. Cora’s still young enough to think Stiles is awesome. That’s why he loves her so much. “Derek’s out with mom,” she informs him. “They’re at the shops getting poptarts. You can wait if you want!”

Stiles smiles, “Yeah, I’ll wait if that’s okay?”

Cora nods enthusiastically and opens the door a little wider so Stiles can step in. “Want a drink?” she asks, skipping off in the direction of the kitchen before Stiles can answer. “I’d love a soda!” Stiles yells after her, shaking his head fondly after a few minutes and following her.

Peter’s in kitchen, sitting on the countertop eating ice cream out of the tub even though it’s well past summer. Stiles stares at him while Cora rummages about in the fridge and rabbits on about how grape is her favourite but Derek had the last one and she doesn’t think she told her mom to buy more so she’ll have to have lime which is okay but not great and does Stiles want coke or lemonade or something else? Stiles has a coke and frowns at Peter who is slurping at the ice cream annoyingly loudly. “Dude, do you like exist solely to be obnoxious?” 

Peter snorts and makes a show of licking around the spoon before shoving it back into the tub (which - ew - other people have to eat that), “No, I also exist to be devilishly good looking and witty.” he says, dropping to spoon onto the counter with a flourish and jumping down. “ _Your_ sole purpose meanwhile seems to be following other people around looking like a forlorn puppy.”

Yeah, Peter totally knows about the Derek thing. It’s not fun. 

“You should think about transferring your affections, Stilinski,” Peter warns with a smirk, bumping into Stiles as he stalks out of the kitchen. Stiles tells himself the only reason he doesn’t retaliate is Cora staring up at him adoringly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a moment where Derek looks like he might thank Stiles and if he does Stiles might die of shock. He doesn't, of course, because no matter how much Stiles might want it to be his life will never be an MTV drama and he's probably not going to get the guy at the end of this whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY LOOK AN UPDATE.
> 
> I haven't written anything since March or when ever it was Cap 2 came out so I'm a little rusty. Sorry this took so long I don't even have a good excuse but hopefully now I'm done with uni writing can be more regular. 
> 
> lyrics are from rock bottom by modern baseball, peter talks like a super villain because lbr thats how he talks in canon and i have no idea how law works. this definitely needs more work.
> 
> unbeta'd and copied from ipad to word so there may be tonnes of formatting/spelling errors do point them out if you spot them?
> 
> also if anyones interested in beta-ing any of my work hit me up on tumblr (buckkybarnes/callicokitten)
> 
> next two chapters will be chris'

_There's no good reason why I should leave your bed tomorrow  
We can watch planet earth and brain storm tattoos_

Stiles sighs from where he's sprawled across Derek's bed. Loudly. Repeatedly. Just in case Derek hadn't heard the first _twenty-two_ times. 

Derek huffs as he types, "You really don't need to be here, you know."

Derek is, of course, wrong. Stiles definitely needs to be here. Stiles can tell just by the way Derek's back is just a little straighter than usual that there's something wrong. Plus he's typing far too intently for it to be anything school related. "Come on, dude, I drove all the way up here and I played Animal Crossing with Cora for _two hours_ with Cora waiting for you."

Derek snorts, "No one asked you to do that. In fact I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to play that with her anymore."

Last time, well, _the first time_ Stiles had spent the whole time teaching the animals swear words. In his defence that had been a whole _six months_ ago and he's matured a lot, thank you very much. "Hey! I did that for educational purposes!"

"Yeah, okay, Stiles," Derek mutters. 

Stiles sighs again, _I know you're not okay,_ he wants to say, _I can help you if stop being so stubborn._ "You know, you can be a real asshole sometimes, Derek." he mutters. 

Derek keeps on typing.

There are glow in the dark stars on Derek's ceiling, they're peeling and dusty now. Stiles remembers helping him stick them up, sat on Derek's shoulders while he teetered on tiptoes and Peter threw cheetos at them until Derek fell and sent them both crashing to the floor. Stiles had broken his arm and Peter had been grounded for the whole summer. It was wonderful.

Derek growls abruptly and Stiles doesn't sit up, "If you need a hand let me know." he drawls.

"This isn't something stupid like homework, Stiles," Derek snaps. "This is for _Laura._ It's _important_."

Stiles stands up, swallows down his frustration, it's not Derek's fault that he's a blind moron sometimes. It's just who he is. "I can still help," he says gently. "Laura was - Laura was important to me too, okay?" 

Derek turns to him, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Stiles smiles, "So, uh, what are we working on? I'm pretty sure I can help you out with anything. I'm not top of my class for nothing!"

Derek arches an eyebrow, "Stiles, you're not top of your class for _anything_."

"Yeah, well, genius is often misunderstood these days," he says, waving a dismissive hand as he leans across to scroll through the document. 

"It's for a letter of appeal," Derek explains, fists curling on the desk. "Mr Whittemore wants us all to write out our statements. He thinks he can get them to reopen the case if we can convince a judge that there's no way she would have...killed herself." He stammers a little over the last two words and _god_ , Stiles would really like to hug him or something right now.

"Yeah, yeah, makes sense," Stiles says quietly, scanning the words on the screen. _Laura would have told me if there was anything wrong_ , Derek's written, _we were close. She was my best friend._ This feels weird, it's like a window into Derek's mind, it feels uncomfortable. This stuff is meant to be private. Stiles can tell Derek feels the same way. This is way too exposed for him.

"I can at least double check this for grammar and stuff?" he says eventually, looking back at Derek.

After a few moments Derek nods cautiously and stands up so Stiles can sit at the desk. "Just make sure it's perfect, okay?" It's not really a request and Stiles nods, throwing Derek an encouraging smile. "Hey, come on, you know me. I'm all about perfection."

-

He's still editing when Derek's mom calls them down to dinner. It's not that Derek's atrocious at writing or anything, it's just that it could do with sounding a little less restrained. 

"Stiles, your dad texted, he has to work late at the station so you're welcome to stay over if you'd like," Talia says as she heaps food onto their plates. Stiles glances at Derek who's industriously picking the peas out of his food and nods, "That'd be great, Talia, thanks."

Derek rolls his eyes and Cora launches into an in depth review of the latest Adventure Time episode while Talia smiles fondly at her. Luckily, Peter isn't home so it actually feels like a loving family dinner for once. 

It takes another hour or so for Stiles to finish editing Derek's part of the appeal; by that point Derek has laid out pyjamas, dragged the spare mattress out and done more push-ups than Stiles has done in his entire life. 

"'M going to have a shower," Derek mutters when Stiles announces he's finished, pulling the sweaty vest he's been wearing off. Stiles tries very hard not to stare at Derek's, well, _Derek_ in all his post-work out glory and then spends the next twenty minutes pretending to watch _Ancient Aliens_ and resolutely _not_ thinking about Derek in the shower.

Peter gets back sometimes during Stiles' shower, he's arguing with Talia ( _"I told you to be back by 10 pm, Peter! What the hell is wrong with you!" " I told you! I lost track of time! And anyway you're not my mom! I don't have to listen to you!_ ") Stiles tries not to listen but it's hard not to. He kind of just hopes Cora's slept through it.

He has to walk past Laura's room on his way back up to Derek's. The doors still ajar. It still looks the same, all her posters are still on the walls, all her clothes are still in the closet. Stiles knows from experience that that's not healthy, his dad had held on to his mom's stuff until the grief councillor had made him get rid of it. Maybe it's different this time though, with his mom there was no mystery. 

When he gets back to Derek's room, Derek's switched the TV onto a sports channel but he's not really watching it. "You ready to sleep?" he asks when Stiles shuts the door behind him.

Stiles is momentarily side-tracked by the fact that Derek's wearing the Stitch tshirt Stiles bought him last year from Disneyworld. Derek glances down and his cheeks colour a little, "Uh," he says.

Stiles wants to do a cartwheel or something equally stupid. He settles for shooting Derek what he hopes is a smug grin, "Yeah, I'm all set for bed."

They lie in silence for a while and Stiles knows that Derek's still awake. It's never been awkward between them before, not on Derek's part anyway. This is weird and new and Stiles really doesn't like it. "So, uh, we went to Jackson Whittemore's party last week," he says. "You left early, huh?"

"Yeah, wasn't really my think," Derek says and then he snorts, "Wait, please tell me I didn't miss you getting embarrassingly drunk?"

"What? No! I only had a few drinks and then - "

"You were the designated driver, weren't you?"

"...Yeah."

Derek chuckles and Stiles grins. _Victory._

-

The next morning Stiles wakes up before Derek and has the misfortune of running into Peter in the bathroom. He's standing in front of the mirror, studying his reflection intently and daubing what looks like make-up onto his cheek. Stiles watches him for a few moments from the doorway before saying, "I thought yours was a natural beauty?"

Peter glances back at him, revealing an impressive black eye, before turning back to the mirror, "We all have our off days, Stilinski, even someone as flawless as me."

Stiles scoffs and pushes past him to get his toothbrush out of the cabinet (so what if he's here so frequently he has his own toothbrush? It doesn't mean anything.) "So, who hit you?" he asks, as he squeezes out his toothpaste.

"No one," Peter snaps.

Which probably means Deucalion. Stiles doesn't even want to _know_ what's going on there. 

"Why do you care anyway?" 

Stiles shrugs, "Maybe I want to send them flowers."

Derek chooses this moment to barge into the bathroom, mumbling a good morning to Stiles and glaring at Peter. He reaches between them to the cabinet when he freezes, arm hanging in the air above the sink. "Is this Laura's make-up?" he asks, in a slightly strangled voice.

 _Oh, shit_ , Stiles thinks. _Shit, shit, shit._

Peter shrugs, "It's not like she's using it."

Derek raises his fist and Stiles grabs his arm. "Derek, come on."

Peter raises his eyebrows, "Well, that wasn't very _gentlemanly._ " 

"He's being an asshole, Stiles," Derek growls.

"Yeah, well, if people hit him every time he was an asshole he'd have died a long time ago."

"Would have been a lot easier for all of us," Derek mutters, letting his arm drop. Peter drops the make-up onto the counter with a loud clatter and stalks out of the bathroom. Derek takes a deep breath, "He's just such a fucking psycho." He mutters. 

Stiles pats him on the arm awkwardly, "I know, buddy. I know."

-  
Operation Cupid, as Erica has demanded they name it, grinds to a halt the next day when they learn that Chris has been suspended for a week after almost strangling one of the twins (not that Stiles blames him because _fuck_ those kids are annoying) but it gives Chris an unfortunate reputation.

"There's _no one_ who'll go near him now," Erica says mournfully, "Not even the bad girls."

"There must be _someone_ ," Isaac says, because he's apparently just as invested in this whole mess as Scott is. Stiles still hasn't figured out which of the two Isaac's crushing on, maybe it's both in which case he can consider himself lucky since he's only got _one_ hopeless crush. Not that Isaac's hypothetical crush on Scott has to be _completely_ hopeless...

Stiles is thinking of suggesting one of the stoner kids that hang around behind the school and turn up to like one lesson a term or maybe Matt because god knows he's creepy enough. Maybe they could convince Chris to model for him or something. But of course, Peter chooses this moment to strut into the canteen and Stiles just _knows_.

"Guys," Erica says, eyes fixed on Peter, voice quivering. "Guys, I think I've found the perfect guy."

"No." Stiles says, "Absolutely not." Because even an attempted murderer doesn't deserve the hell that is Peter Hale. But Scott's gone all puppy-eyed and he's glancing at him and saying, "Do you think it could work?"

"Jesus, Scott, are you serious? You want to set up the love of your life's brother up with _that_?"

"You're right," Scott says, a little dejectedly. He glances over at Allison, "I mean, he's probably straight anyway, right? A guy like that."

"Wait," Boyd interjects, "You decided to try and find this guy a date without even finding out what his type is? That's sloopy planning. Even for you guys."

And Stiles has to admit he's got a point but he's not about to let Scott know that. (Not that Scott doesn't know that.) Instead, he reaches over and pats Scott on the arm, "We'll figure something out."

\- 

Scott doesn't bring it up again until their almost weekly detention with Harris ("Jesus, again you guys? What did you do this time?" Boyd had asked and Stiles had shrugged, "Breathed wrong, probably.")

"So I spoke to Allison," he says quietly. "She says her brother's dated guys and girls so anything goes, I guess."

"Well, at least we've got a lot to work with."  
Then Scott leans in closer, "Look, I know there are a tonne of reasons why this is an awful idea but are you sure you want to rule Peter out?"

Stiles sighs, "Scott, buddy, literally _no one_ on earth deserves that horror. Besides, Peter's not exactly _cooperative_ and I really doubt appealing to his better nature is going to get us anywhere."

Scott grins, "No, we wouldn't have to though. We could pay him or trick him."

"Scott, he's not that stupid and we're poor, remember? Well, relatively poor."

"I know but Stiles, I wouldn't ask if I didn't feel like this was important, you know? I just...I've never felt this way about anyone before and besides, if Chris says no we'd get to watch Peter get shot down."

That does sound pretty appealing, Stiles has to admit. But hey, for all they know Chris is a great guy and Peter is a fucking black hole of fucked up-ery and toxicity and -

"Please?" Scott says, "Just - I know it's a long shot but I really like this girl. I swear if this doesn't work we can drop it. Well, I don't think Erica will _ever_ drop it but _I'll_ drop it. I'll pursue someone more in my league...Like Lydia Martin."

Stiles sniggers. _Lydia Martin_. And Scott's still smirking and god dammit, Stiles really needs to _stop_ being such a softie but for now - "Alright," he says, "Alright, I'll think about it. Maybe we can pay him or something."

Scott looks like he might explode with happiness.

-

Stiles has Scott and Isaac staying at his that night, the McCall home is getting fumigated or something and Stiles is a little apprehensive. He's had Scott over before, Christ, there was a time when they were kids they practically _lived_ together but Isaac? He's never been that close to Isaac. Look, he feels for the kid and everything and he's not about to deny Isaac somewhere to sleep it's just he doesn't really _know_ Isaac. He's always been Scott's friend.

Both his dad and Scott's mom are working late tonight so they stop off for Chinese on the way home (the place that does Derek's favourite egg rolls) and this is technically not allowed in Stiles' carefully thought out diet for his dad and him but hey, it's an almost special occasion so he's willing to let it slide. (Beside, he's pretty sure his dad'll die internally if he doesn't get at least _some_ processed junk into his system occasionally.) They drop some off at the station and the hospital and both parents give them stern looks and remind them that _it's a school night so you boys actually get some sleep, okay?_ To which he and Scott dutifully nod while Isaac hovers slightly awkwardly in the background.

By the time they get back to Stiles' it's almost 10 (and Scott has mentioned Allison no less than thirty times.) They've settled for a mini movie marathon because let's face it, there's not much to do in Beacon Hills unless they fancy trying to sneak in to some of the less secure clubs near the industrial part of town or they want to go bowling (Scott does because he heard Allison and Lydia would be there but Stiles manages to talk him out of it by pointing out that Allison probably wouldn't actually talk to him if they did turn up and also ew, Jackson.) 

Isaac is given the job of rolling out the sleeping bags in Stiles' room while he and Scott argue about whether popcorn or nachos are the perfect movie snacks ( _popcorn. How can it not be popcorn? He thought Scott knew better._ ) They're just reaching a truce which involves popcorn with nacho cheese when there's a startled yelp from the bedroom.

"Uh, Isaac? You okay in there, buddy?" Stiles calls, mentally going through a list of things he could have potentially done wrong. There's not much he can think of, short of Isaac somehow quietly breaking Stiles' laptop (if he has Stiles is definitely selling him on the black market.)

He exchanges a worried look with Scott who smiles apologetically when there's no reply and he's just about to go check on Isaac when Isaac leans around the corner and says, "Um, Stiles..."

And then Derek's coming round the corner behind him and glaring at Stiles like the very idea of Stiles having people over is personally offensive to him. 

"Derek Hale is in your house," Isaac finishes lamely.

Stiles sighs, "Yeah, I can see that."

"I need to talk to you," Derek demands and usually Stiles would chastise him for being so rude because just because in Derek's mind everything is always awful doesn't mean he has to force that view on to other people but Stiles gives him a free pass because of the whole Laura thing and nods, "Gimme a minute."

Scott gives him a _look_ (one that says, _hey, are you okay? Do you need me to kick his ass for you because I am totally willing to do that, asthma or no asthma._ ) and Stiles gives him a quick smile as he bends to retrieve the bag of egg rolls from the fridge, "You guys can start the first movie without me. Just please, no Tom Cruise, okay? There is literally only film where he is acceptable and I'm really not in the mood for vampires."

-

Derek sits on Stiles' bed and stares at the bag of egg rolls in silence looking more lost than Stiles has seen him look since Laura went missing while Stiles perches on the desk and fidgets. There's this full body _ache_ he's feeling right now, one that really, really wants him to just go and hug Derek or _something_ just to make him stop looking like that.

"So, Mr Harris gave me detention today again. I'm pretty sure this is getting creepy, I didn't even _do_ anything this time," he starts because sometimes Derek just needs a little inane babble to get him going. "Erica thinks he might be in love with me, which would be the most horrifying thing ever and besides I'm pretty sure he's more in love with Jackson because he practically falls at that guys _feet_. It's awful." He breaks off, glances around for something else to talk about.

"Scott's still in love with Allison, it's kind of cute now. We're trying to find someone to date her brother, Erica's calling it Operation Cupid because she's made of clichés. Hey, speaking of, you don't happen to know if Peter would - "

Derek looks up sharply at that, " _What_?"

"I- uh - nothing," Stiles shrugs awkwardly. "Look, Derek, usually I'm all up for sitting around in silence waiting for you to get it together enough to talk but today I -"

"They're reopening Laura's case," he says quietly.

"What? You heard back already? That's great!" Stiles is beaming and Derek nods, a little half smile on his face, like he can't quite believe it.

"Yeah," he murmurs. "My mom told me when she got home from work." But then the smile vanishes and he lowers his head, "I just..." he says quietly. "Stiles, what if she did...you know? What if we're wrong?" He says the words carefully, like he's trying desperately to keep his voice steady and Stiles crosses the room, lays a gentle hand on Derek's shoulder.

"Hey, you know that won't happen," he says firmly. 

"I just don't know if they'll be able to find anything," Derek mumbles. "And what if they do but it just drags this on more? I just want answers, Stiles. I just want..."

Stiles lets his grip tighten, "You'll get answers. Jackson's dads an awesome lawyer, even if his son is an ass. Are you bringing in a private detective or anything? My dad knows a few good ones and even if you don't I'm sure he'll be able to find something they missed in the original investigation. It'll work out fine, Derek."

For a brief moment he thinks he feels Derek lean into the touch but then it's gone and Derek is nodding, shifting so Stiles' hand slides off and looking up at him -( this, Stiles thinks, would be the moment they kissed if he wasn't such a coward.)

Derek stands up abruptly, "I - uh," he stammers before steadying himself. There's a moment where he looks like he might thank Stiles and if he does Stiles might die of shock. He doesn't, of course, because no matter how much Stiles might want it to be his life will never be an MTV drama and he's probably not going to get the guy at the end of this whole thing.

"If you want to get Peter to date that Argent boy you have to make it sound like a challenge," Derek says instead, with a smirk. "Ask him and he'll say no and then tell him you completely understand, you'd be intimidated too. He'll still say no but he'll try anyway."

Stiles smiles back, "Okay, you're the expert."

And Derek nods, pauses like there's something more before turning away, "I'll - uh - see you later," he says, as he leaves.

-

They find Peter sat beside the track at lunch, away from everyone else, and Stiles is honestly surprised he's not throwing rocks or something at the few kids on the field. 

He gives Scott one more _are you really sure you want to potentially doom the love of your life's brother to **this**_ before nudging Peter's outstretched leg and announcing, "I need a favour."

Peter squints up at him, "You are aware, of course, that a favour usually involves some form of payoff? As in you must have something I want, which you don't."

"Well, _yeah_ but hear me out? So, my buddy Scott here really wants to date this girl, right? Only her dad is completely crazy so she can't date unless her older brother is dating -"

"Wait." Peter holds up a hand, "Does Shakespeare know you're stealing his plots?"

"It's not _us_ who's stealing his plots, it's her dad," Scott says just as Stiles says, "Shakespeare's been dead a little while now, Pete. I don't think he'll mind."

Peter rolls his eyes and stands up, "Look, boys, as much as I'd _love_ to be involved in your little romcom and it does sound _fascinating_ , I must decline. I have _real_ life things to do."

Scott looks panicked for a moment so Stiles darts in front of Peter to stop him leaving. Peter huffs, " _Move._ "

"Don't you even want to know who we want you to date? And you wouldn't even have to really _date_ him, just - "

"No," Peter says.

"Chris Argent," Scott blurts out.

Peter looks over at him, "I don't think I even know who that is."

"He's new," Scott explains. "He's in your year and he's on the track team."

"And hey," Stiles adds, "Since he's new he doesn't know how much of a sociopath you are yet."

Peter looks unamused, "Still no."

"Well, what can I say, Scott?" Stiles says, still standing in Peter's way. "I told you he wouldn't be up for it. I mean, Chris is pretty intimidating, right? I don't really blame him."

Peter narrows his eyes.

Scott sighs exaggeratedly, "I suppose you're right. It was worth a shot though, come on, Stiles." He's barely hiding his smirk, _amateur_ Stiles thinks, as he and Scott turn away.

"Hey!" Peter calls, "I'm not intimidated!"

"Whatever you say!" Stiles calls back.

-

"So," Erica leans in excitedly when they get back to their usual lunch table. "Did it work?"

"Well, it didn't _not_ work," Scott says.

"We hope," Stiles adds.

**Author's Note:**

> lyrics at the start are from 'flightless bird, american mouth' by iron and wine


End file.
